


"I'll Read To You"

by NancyWheeler1983



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 13:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18389087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyWheeler1983/pseuds/NancyWheeler1983
Summary: One of Astoria and Scorpius' favourite thing to do was read together, it was where Scorpius had gotten his love of books from. However, one day, when they're reading Astoria's favourite book together, the unthinkable happens. It is only years later, when Scorpius has his own family with Albus, that he is once again able to face reading his mother's favourite story.





	"I'll Read To You"

**Author's Note:**

> I am going to warn you all now, this is a very sad one shot! However, I am hoping that the sweet scene at the end makes up for the angst at the beginning! I hope you all enjoy. All characters belong to J.K Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

****“I’ll read to you Mum, don’t worry”, Scorpius said, gently prising the book out of his mother’s hands, smiling softly up at her.

 

“No...no...I can carry on”, Astoria said sleepily, trying to sit up in her bed.

 

“Honestly, Mum, please don’t try to get up, it’s fine. Besides, it’ll be nice for me to read to you for a change”, Scorpius said smiling as he turned to read aloud from the book in his hands.

 

“When did you grow up so much Scorpius? It just seems like just yesterday you could fit in my arms and I was the one reading to you”, Astoria whispered, running her hand softly through her son’s blonde hair, Scorpius leaning back into her touch.

 

“You’ve become such a wonderful young man. You are so kind and so brave, Scorpius, I couldn’t have asked for a more incredible son”, Astoria said, continuing to run her hands through Scorpius’ hair, as he leaned back and gently hugged her frail body, nestling into his mother’s arms. “I am so proud of you, you know that? You make me proud every day Scorpius. Please never change, please always continue to be the kind and wonderful son I know. I love you so very much”, Astoria whispered, placing a kiss to the crown of Scorpius’ head.

 

“I love you too Mum”, Scorpius whispered back, tears forming in his eyes as he hugged his mother tightly.

 

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, until Astoria picked up the discarded book and handed it back to Scorpius, smiling at him. He smiled back up at his mother, before taking the book out of her hands, and began to read aloud. Eventually, Astoria’s eyes became heavy, before closing as sleep took over. Scorpius, noticing this, stopped reading and carefully put the book on the bedside table and then lay down next to his mother on the bed and fell asleep himself, curled up by Astoria’s side.

 

A few rooms down the hall, Draco Malfoy sat in his study, his head in his hands. There had been very few moments over the last few days when he hadn’t been at his wife’s side, her hands in his, words softly being exchanged between them.

 

But this afternoon, Astoria had seemed a little brighter and had asked Scorpius to fetch their favourite book from the shelf in his bedroom, wanting to read to her son just like she used to when Scorpius was a baby. Draco had left them to it, knowing just how precious moments like this had become, especially since Astoria had become so frail over the last few days. He wanted his son and his wife to have moments like this, happy memories that Scorpius could cherish when his mother was eventually gone.

 

However, alone for the first time in days, Draco didn’t know what to do with himself. He had taken to trying to sort out the paperwork in his office that had been piling up, although he found it very hard to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds, his mind constantly flitting to Astoria.

 

At one point, he had gone to check on his wife and son, his head peeking around the door to find the two of them curled up asleep in Astoria’s bed, Scorpius tucked against Astoria’s side. Draco smiled at this, thinking just how peaceful they both looked, the worries of the last few weeks no longer etched onto their faces.

 

Rather than disturbing them, he had gone back to his office, hoping to make some more progress with sorting out the paperwork. It was just a few hours later when he heard the screaming. Draco’s head shot up from what he was doing, his heart filling with dread as he heard the unmistakable cry of his son.

 

Rushing out of his office and into his and Astoria’s bedroom, he flung open the door to find Scorpius kneeling by the side of the bed, his whole body wracked with sobs as he continually cried,

 

“Mum! Mum! Wake up, Mum, please!”, his hand on his Astoria’s shoulder, tears running down his face, his eyes already bloodshot.

 

Draco felt sick looking at the sight in front of him, Astoria, still looking so peaceful and his son, inconsolable at her side.

 

“Scorpius! Scorpius what happened?!”, Draco asked frantically, scooping Scorpius up into his arms.

 

“We...we fell asleep, I...I was reading to her”, Scorpius sobbed, “And when I woke up, I...I tried to wake her...to see if she needed anything...but I couldn’t wake her...she won’t wake up, Dad”, he sobbed into Draco’s shoulder, his body still shaking as Draco held him tightly.

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry Scorpius, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, I’m so sorry”, Draco said, as he kissed the top of Scorpius’ head, tears rolling down his own cheeks, as he looked over at Astoria’s body, his heart breaking.

 

The two of them stayed like that for hours, sat on the floor of the bedroom in each other’s arms, crying for Astoria. Scorpius was holding onto his dad’s cloak in a death grip, as if Draco would too disappear if he let go. Draco held onto his son just as tightly, clinging onto the last piece of Astoria he had left. Both of their hearts were aching, not only for what they had lost, but for all the moments they knew would come, moments when Astoria would be missing, knowing that their lives would never be the same again.

 

Scorpius never picked up that book again for a long time. When they were sorting out Astoria’s belongings, Draco handed it to Scorpius, smiling sadly at him.

 

“Your mother would want you to have this, it was yours and your mother’s favourite after all”, Draco said quietly.

 

Scorpius gave him a small smile, opening up the book to the first page, where written inside was a message from Astoria,

 

‘To my darling Scorpius. This was my favourite book as a child, my own mother read it to me and now I am going to read it to you. I hope you’ll love it as much as I do, and one day maybe you’ll read it to your children too. I love you so much, my sweet boy. All my love, Mum’,

 

Scorpius’ eyes filled with tears as he read the words written by his mother, his fingers tracing the writing on the page as his heart ached.

 

“Thanks Dad”, he said, his voice breaking as turned back to his bedroom, putting the book on his bookshelf, before lying down on his bed and sobbing into his pillow, his heart longing to hear his mother read the book to him just one more time.

 

It wasn’t until years later that Scorpius even opened that book again. His mother was right of course, one of the favourite parts of his day was reading to his and Albus’ daughter, the little girl curled up in Scorpius’ arms, her eyes alight with wonder as he read aloud to her. Over the last couple of years, Scorpius had lost count of the number of books they had read together, but he could never bring himself to pick up his mother’s favourite, his heart aching too much at the thought.

 

But one day, as he and Albus were settling in their usual reading chair, Lyra came toddling up to them, Astoria’s book in her hands.

 

“What have you got there sweetheart? Is that what you want me to read to you tonight?”, Scorpius asked, getting ready to take the book from her hands.

 

“Nope”, Lyra said, climbing into Scorpius’ lap as he wrapped his arms around her.

 

“Oh. Okay, do you not want to read this story? It’s a really good one”, Scorpius asked, confused.

 

“No, Daddy, I want to read it to you”, Lyra replied, looking up at Scorpius with her big eyes, smiling widely as she opened up the book to the first page.

 

Scorpius’ heart swelled, his eyes filling with tears, as he looked down at Lyra, remembering that the last time this book had been read, he had been reading it to his mother on the last day they would ever spend together. He felt Albus grip one of his hands tightly, as he looked up at his husband.

 

“Are you okay?”, Albus asked silently, looking over at Scorpius with concern.

 

Scorpius nodded at him, his eyes still swimming with tears, but a smile on his face. As he looked down at his daughter reading Astoria’s favourite book aloud to him and Albus, his heart was filled with joy. Although he still missed his mother greatly and wished she could be here to meet Lyra, he knew his mother’s spirit was still alive. It was alive in him, in his father, in his daughter, and in the legacy Astoria had left behind. Scorpius had thought it would be impossible for him to ever open that book again, that it would make him too sad to read the words of his mother’s favourite story. But he was wrong; as he sat there curled up next to Albus, their daughter sat in his lap, reading the story aloud to them, he felt only one emotion: happiness.

  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed (?) this story, I really love writing Astoria and Scorpius together and I'm also hoping to write a lot more about Albus and Scorpius' little family soon! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! :-)


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